As you might have gathered from the heap of reviews surrounding Syndicate, any mention of the modern day element is quickly scuttled under the rug in favour of pointing at the shiny new city you'll get to play around in. However, that completely ruins the thrust of the series, which until Desmond was killed off at the close of AC III seemed to be geared towards not only delivering a solid world, but also to see what was going to happen in the future. Without delving into the specifics of Syndicate's modern day scenes, they feel more like a checkbox inclusion to 'please the fans' on Ubi's part, rather than them truly knowing where the future of the series lies. It'll take yet another Assassin's Creed to see if Ubi do know what they're doing, but we desperately need something to strive for in each instalment other than "Here's another world". Let's have someone in the present who has a vested reason to delve into their ancestral history; be it some integral information to a murder, conspiracy or whatever else - as at least then we can start giving the modern day element a reason to exist in the first place. Syndicate might be keeping things ticking over, but what would you revamp to keep things fresh?
